Obama Alleged Scandals: The Public Should Yawn

The four alleged scandals faced by the administration don't pass the smell test for a public flogging of the president, argues Earl Ofari Hutchinson in a blog for EURWeb, because there is no clear evidence that he had any knowledge or hand in the missteps.

President Obama returns to the White House from Atlanta on May 19. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Earl Ofari Hutchinson argues in a piece at EURweb that the four alleged scandals faced by the administration don't pass the smell test for a public flogging of the president because there is no clear cut evidence that he had any knowledge or hand in the missteps.

*The mostly media driven scandal talk involving President Obama has so far stirred barely a yawn among the public. There are good reasons.

The four alleged scandals, Benghazi, the IRS, the AP leaks, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius supposed shakedown of corporations to help implement the health care act don't come close to passing the smell test for a public fogging of the president. There is absolutely no clear cut evidence or testimony that Obama had any knowledge of or hand in the missteps. And the comparison to Watergate, or Nixon, is a joke and an insult.

Nixon orchestrated the long train of Watergate criminal abuses. He and a slew of administration officials resigned, retired, or were indicted for their criminal conduct. The IRS alleged scandal is the one that does have the potential to generate some public outrage, mostly because of the inherent public fear and animosity toward the IRS. But the best or worst that can be said about this is that some IRS operatives dissected the Tea Party and other political groups because some do blatantly engage in political activities that IRS rules forbid after they get a tax exemption. These officials went too far with their over intrusive scrutiny of these groups. But this is a far cry from the blatant and direct misuse of the IRS by past presidents from Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson to Republican Nixon too whipsaw political groups they considered enemies.

The Rootaims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.